


Temporary Love

by Babygayness



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Colleagues to Lovers, Fluff, Homophobic Language, I'm Bad At Tagging, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Smut, affair, i really dunno, in the closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babygayness/pseuds/Babygayness
Summary: Callum was bored of everything, he felt like the old him had died in the army, and the new him was just some desk jockey doing a job he didn’t even know how to do. Even though he had everything, a job, a girlfriend and a lovely flat he felt bored, plagued down by secrets and urges but when he meets Ben the new guy at the office who is also bored of his life and shares the same secrets they discover they can help each other keep their secrets and ‘perfect lives’ with discrete kisses and quick hookups behind their colleagues and girlfriends backs. It’s nothing but temporary or that’s what they keep telling themselves.XAn au where Ben and Callum work together in an office and shag x (warning for later chapters)
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	Temporary Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! So I told myself I would never ever write another multi chapter fic after the hatred I felt to my other fic but this idea would not leave me alone! It’s basically just an affair au with a lil bit of spice! I hope you enjoy it! The warning for violence is for a later chapter but I will trigger warn all chapters in the notes when needed :)) 
> 
> Bee 🐝   
> Xxx

"Morning Halfway," 

"Morning Callum,"

"Morning Halfway good weekend?"

Callum smiled and made the smallest amount of small talk possible as he made his way to his desk. He hated Mondays, that sound so cliche, but he hated them, he hated coming back from a weekend of peace and quiet to a noisy office with deadlines, chatty secretaries and demanding bosses. When Callum left the army with a dent in his side and a limp a couple of years ago, he never expected himself to end up working in an office. He wasn't even sure what his job was. His official title was 'Administrative Assistant', but whenever anyone asked about what he did, his mind went blank. He put in numbers on excel, and he sorted out deliveries and stock. It was a dull routine that he numbed out what exactly he was doing. He must have been doing a pretty good job having got employee of the month a couple of times. His boss, Jack, was also always telling him what a good job he was doing. He earned a pretty decent salary and the benefits were pretty good. 

As Callum sat down at his desk, he tried to shut his mind off and just focused on his work, but it wasn't long before Whitney was hovering over his desk with a coffee. He met Whitney just after joining the office team. It was clear to everyone that Whitney immediately took a liking to Callum and within a few months they were dating. Their relationship was massively on the slow side. They still didn't live with each other despite Whitney's many many hints. 

"Hey babe, made you a coffee just the way you like it," Whitney's tone was flirty as she leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek. 

"Thanks, Whit," Callum tried to force a smile. He did love Whitney. Of course, he did, she was pretty, she had bright red hair and was always made up. She was nice too, still sorting out the office charity events or the Christmas work do. He loved her. 

"You alright?" You seem a bit grumpy?" He knew that Whitney was probably worried about him, but he didn't really have the time for this. 

"I'm fine Whit!" He snapped before sighing "sorry sorry I didn't sleep well last night," Although it wasn't a lie it felt like it was, Callum never slept well. His dreams were always plagued with memories from the army, or his mind just wouldn't shut up. He never found peace while trying to sleep, but his bad mood wasn't because he slept awfully, he just didn't know how to tell Whitney he was just feeling absolutely done with everything. 

"It's fine" Whitney smiled gently at him "maybe you can sleep round mine tonight? I can tire you out" she whispered in his ear seductively. 

"Yeah go on then," He chuckled as a blush crept onto his cheeks before turning the tip of his ears pink. "but I really got work to do babe,"

~ 

When Callum was younger, he use to dream of doing something worthwhile with his life. He never wanted to join the army when ha dad forced him to, the only bit of comfort was that he was helping people, well trying too. He felt useless at this job like he wasn't making an impact. He thought about it a lot, especially at slow days of work. He daydreamed about doing something exciting. He thought about running away. He would never act on his thoughts, he knew that, but he couldn't help but feel boring. 

"Alright, Callum" Kush one of the other admin workers asked as he sat down the other side of the desk.

"Ah alright Kush" Callum responded as he looked up from his computer screen. Kush had been here for years, a lot longer than Callum and was the person that trained up Callum when he first started. He was a good guy, a lot of family drama that he would often share with Callum. 

"Have you heard? About the new guy that's meant to be starting tomorrow?" Callum immediately lost focus on his work as he turned all his focus on Kush. "Remember when Shrimpy left? They brought in all those people to interview...apparently they start tomorrow." 

"That's good. The workload has been pretty heavy since he quit," Callum was quite thankful for the extra work; it was the perfect excuse for overtime when he wanted to avoid Whitney. It sounded terrible, but she was a little bit too much sometimes. She always wanted to do something 'romantic' when Callum just wanted his own company. That didn't mean he didn't love her. 

"Yeah, we reckon it's going to be that young lad Keanu remember him? A bit thick but seemed like a hard worker?" Callum tried to think back, but his mind went blank, so he just nodded along.

"Are we talking about the new guy starting?" Martin shouted from his desk. "I don't care who it is as long as they're a good worker," 

"Yeah same, pretty sure Kat is gonna kill me with all this over time I'm doing!" Kush laughed as he got up from Callum's desk and walked back to his one. "Oi lads fancy a pint after work?" 

"Yeah, course" Callum laughed softly as he focused back on putting the numbers into the system. 

Callum spent the last half an hour glaring at the clock as it got closer and closer to five. He answered the phone when he needed to, but at this point in the day, he couldn't be bothered to do any other work. He had always been like it, at school as soon as it got to half two he just gave up, staring at the clock. He didn't particularly want to go home, and he usually didn't he would just go round Mick and Linda's Carter's pub to hang out with his son Lee. Or if he did have to go home, he would lock himself in his room and daydream or focus on homework anything just to ignore the drunken slurs of his dad, and when he was in the army, he would always be counting down the days to going home. It was still like he was waiting for something; he just hadn't figured out what yet. It was always like he wasn't satisfied with the present time always waiting for the future, yet he avoided moving in with Whitney, avoiding any marriage talk with her. There was something he wanted, kids, and it was the only part of the future he was looking forward to with her. He didn't know if that was wrong, but he was sure other people felt like that. 

"Ah, Callum can I speak to you in my office quickly?" Callum looked up as he saw Jack poke his head around his office door. Callum nodded as he stood up, walking into the main office of the building. 

"Everything okay, sir?" Callum asked as he nervously straightened out his tie. 

"Yeah, you don't have to look so worried all the time," Jack laughed as he gestured Callum to sit opposite. "I'm sure you've heard about someone new coming in tomorrow in the department," 

"Yeah the lads were talking about it earlier," Callum kept fiddling with his tie. 

"Yeah, well you know what they're like they gossip more than the secretary's" Jack laughed "Listen, Callum, you're one of the best workers here, never had a sick day, never been late, you're the best with the numbers, so I think you're the man for the job of training the newbie," 

"Really? Me?" Callum asked, slightly nervous. He never trained anyone before. He didn't even know how to do his job, let alone tell anyone else how to do it. 

"It won't be hard, he was the best at his old company, he probably knows what he's doing but different systems different polices you know how it is Callum," Jack stated as he stood up and Callum stood up with him. "You'll be fine," Callum nodded as Jack patted him on the back. "Oh don't worry about any overtime for you and the lads tonight,"

When Callum finally turned off his computer, he felt the familiar sigh of relief fall from his lips. He quickly grabbed a sticky note scribbling down about the training the guy tomorrow and pressed it to the bottom of his computer screen so he wouldn't forget. He waited for Jay, Martin and Kush to finish up. He really liked how small his department was. It meant they bonded well and worked well as a team. He got on well with all of them too, even the cleaners Mo and Jean that came in during his many overtime hours. Then there was obviously Whitney with the other secretary Chantelle. It was an excellent building to be a part of, the delivery and stock department was the most hard working in the company, but god they were boring. 

"Alright, babe?" Callum asked as he saw Whitney half jog with the familiar click clock of her high heels over to him. 

"Yeah, you still coming round mine tonight? We can get a Chinese if ya fancy it? Sonia is working the night shift so we'll have the hose to ourselves" Whitney's eyes twinkled as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go to the pub with the lads, but I'll pop by later if you like?" Callum could see the disappoint in Whitney's face. "Why don't you come with?" 

Callum carried the drinks to the table as he smiled softly at Whitney as he placed her glass of wine in front on her. 

"Thanks, babe," Whitney thanked as she kissed his cheek. "Mick and Linda not working tonight?" 

"Nah it's Ollie's parent's evening or something," Callum smiled at her as he quickly scrubbed the lipstick mark off his cheek before taking a sip of his pint. 

"We can have a game of darts later if you want lads?" Jay suggested as he sat opposite Callum and next to Martin, who had already drunk his first pint a little too fast.

"Ah I would, but I got a night in planned with my lovely lady so I'll probably only have the one drink," Callum blushed slightly as he wrapped his arm around Whitney before he kissed her. He pulled away, trying to ignore the comments from the other lads as he laughed awkwardly. He reached to grab his pint when his eyes met the bluest eyes he's ever seen. He quickly tried to look away, clutching his pint, taking a large swig of it. He longed for his brain to shut up as it screamed at him to take another look. He couldn't resist it. He turned back to see the person sat at the bar on a stool. His heart pounded as he tried to get a better look subtly. They wore a leather jacket that suited the cocky attitude that he looked like he had. 

As time went on, Callum couldn't stop glancing over at the man sat at the bar. It was his eyes. Those eyes were just so blue. One glance of those blue eyes told of a lifetime of struggle, but a second glanced showed how beautiful they were. They were the blue-green of the mountain lakes, lakes you could find yourself drowning in their beauty. It didn't mean anything, Callum was just looking at this man because he appreciated how attractive he was. It didn't mean anything, but the man caught on as he raised an eyebrow at Callum before he winked. Callum couldn't stop the blush that burned on his cheeks. He was thankful how distracted Whitney was talking to Kush and Martin. He felt the familiar feeling of shame at how much he was enjoying the attention from the man and how his mind went into a frenzy as it thought of every scenario of what he would do if Whitney weren't here and if he was gay, which he wasn't. He was so distracted but it he didn't even notice the guy walk up to him.

"Hey, do you remember me?!" Callum looked up to at the man, and his heart dropped. The whole table was looking at him. "From a couple of weeks ago at the bar?" 

"Nah sorry mate," Callum shook his head as he tried to hold it together to get through the lie. He remembered that night at the bar. He remembered the guy. That night wasn't meant to end like that. It started with just Kush, Martin, Jay and Callum going to the club on a Friday to celebrate the end of the stressful week, but Jay got drunk too fast and had to get a taxi home covered in sick, Martin had to go home to his wife Stacey to help with the kids. It was just him and Kush when they wandered in the club the familiar buzz of alcohol, making them both more confident. As Kush went to go flirt with some girls at the bar wearing barely any clothing, Callum found himself talking to the guy, Simon his name was. Callum was pretty drunk while they talked he surprised he remembered so much about him, he was trainee paramedic and had sisters that were always looking out for him. Callum felt drawn to him as Simon talked, and before he knew it they were kissing, Callum was pressed up against the wall as he hands felt up Simon. They parted ways quickly as Kush came to find Callum, but he stayed on Callum's mind for weeks after they met, but Callum told himself it was nothing. Just a drunk mistake. Just experimenting. He loved Whitney. 

"Really?? We danced for a bit? Had a bit of a snog?" Callum's heart pounded painfully against his ribs.

"I think you got the wrong guy. This is my girlfriend.." Callum wrapped his arms around, Whitney, pulling her as close as possible. 

"Ah I could have sworn it was you, but it was dark, and I was pretty drunk," The guy laughed awkwardly, and Callum couldn't help but feel a crushing feeling of guilt about lying to the guy. Callum knew deep down that was something was wrong with him, the obsession's of a couple of male friends he had growing up, the way he would sneak downstairs at the crack of dawn to watch some program that when his dad caught him watching he went mental, or the fact it took him years to get a girlfriend just never having an interest in them, but he pushed it aside to have the normal life with Whitney. "Sorry I hope you have a nice evening,"

Callum looked around the table; his heart rate still felt like it was beating dangerously fast, but everyone was laughing, and he felt a wave of relief, especially when Whitney hugged him tighter.

"Someone's trying to steal my man," Whitney giggled, and Callum felt the world come off his shoulders as he lies stayed a lie. He couldn't help but glance over to the mysterious guy at the bar and saw that he was watching shaking his head laughing. 

"Dinner's here babe!" Whitney called as Callum jogged downstairs, his hair wet from his shower that he had to convinced Whitney not to join. He still felt shook up about what happened at the pub. He could have sworn his whole world was crashing around him. He felt guilty that he almost wished it had. "Nice shower?" Whitney asked as she placed the Chinese containers on the coffee table as Callum sat on the sofa.

"Yeah, it was good thanks," Callum smiled at her. He had the familiar feeling of boredom as he grabbed his food. 

"What do you wanna watch on the telly babe?" This was what his life was like, dull. He almost felt angry at it, a rage burning deep within with how bored he was. "Or do you wanna eat then go to bed?" Callum knew what she was implying when she said 'bed'. It meant some pathetic act of sex. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy sex, he did, he just didn't see the big deal of it. He didn't have those fireworks. It was more of a chore than anything, but he would do anything to make Whitney happy. As much as he felt bored, his priority was making Whitney happy and feeling loved. That why that night he took her to bed and tried to ignore the fact that what kept him going was the thought of the guy from the club and the memory of those blue eyes. 

When Callum woke up the next day, he felt more exhausted than normal. He woke up earlier than Whit did, he always did. He spent most of the early morning staring at the ceiling just thinking. He felt like even his thoughts were boring. He officially hated his life. 

When Whitney woke up, she kept badgering about why he was in a bad mood, but Callum didn't know how to tell her that he just hated his life. He hated dragging himself out of bed. He hated going into the office most days. He hated everything. He couldn't tell her that so he just shrugged his shoulder and mumbled 'he was fine'. 

Callum's mood didn't improve when he walked to the office, it was tipping down with rain, and even though the office building was only five minutes away from Whitney's house, he got absolutely soaked. His coat was clinging to his body uncomfortably making his skin crawl. He barely mumbled a hello to anyone as he sat down on his desk, turning on his computer as he quickly shook the soaking coat from his shoulders. He had barely been in the office for five minutes, and he was already feeling close to tears with boredom. He had been in a shitty mood since he woke up this morning and he didn't feel like it was getting better. When Callum was younger, and well into his early twenties, everyone thought of him as the goofy, smiley halfway. He was always planning something daft, doing some fun and wearing unique jumpers, but after everything that happened in the army, Chris and starting this job, he felt himself disappear. His old self died when he got blown up; that's how he felt. 

Callum blinked away the tears and memories as he stared as the computer screen trying to think where to start. He opened before he grabbed the folder on his desk checking with company needed their deliveries and stock checked, but before he could throw himself into his work, someone barged into the office. 

"Good morning, everyone!" Someone called out in a sing-song voice. Callum had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he looked up from his desk like everyone else did. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw who was causing the commotion. The same blue eyes from the bar the evening before were staring back at him. He had a good look at the man, he was short, really short, but he was attractive. He had a cocky smirk plastered on his face as he looked back at Callum. Callum felt his heartbeat uncomfortably in his chest as he tried to figure it out why he was here, his mind came up with every worse case scenario of why the guy was here, but his eyes suddenly noticed the sticky note pressed to his computer.

YOU'RE TRAINING NEW GUY TODAY CALLUM

"I'm Ben Mitchell the new guy," Callum didn't know what to do, but he put on a polite smile as he stood up from his desk like everyone else did but was secretly praying that Ben didn't recognise him from the night before.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave kudos or comments if you can they really help me motivate myself to write but if not thank you for reading and I really hope you liken it xx


End file.
